


Two of a Kind

by Cheshiure



Category: Persona 3
Genre: Ficlet, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:08:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28106790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cheshiure/pseuds/Cheshiure
Summary: Akihiko awakens to his persona.
Relationships: Aragaki Shinjiro & Sanada Akihiko
Kudos: 6





	Two of a Kind

**Author's Note:**

> Warning for evoker usage and painful amounts of dramatic irony

Akihiko has been examining the evoker for ages, now. 

Logically, he knows it hasn’t been that long. Kirijo couldn’t have handed it to him more than fifteen minutes ago, his daughter behind him giving Akihiko a searching look that made his skin crawl. He had no answer to the question in her eyes, and had to look away, crushing an irrational twinge of guilt for coming up short. It was a tiny relief when she left the room with her father, but it left him alone with the very problem he was now unable to avoid. 

Why hadn’t he pulled the trigger yet?

He turns it over in his hands, eyes tracing the precise clean lines of the device. It’s not a real gun, but from the weight of it in his hand and the cold of it through his gloves, he would never had known. 

It’s reasonable to be afraid, he reminds himself. Kirijo had said so. It was the fear that they needed, to trigger the summoning. It wouldn’t work if he didn’t face it- look it in the face, and accept the fear of his death and its inevitability.

Fear that the others have already faced. 

Shinji already has his, and the Kirijo girl, Mitsuru, has hers too. Personas. Otherworldly beings, at their beck and call. He didn’t even know about Shinji’s until a few days ago, but like Mitsuru, he’d had it for years, since before they were at the orphanage together. Neither of them spoke much about that time, but it didn’t stop the sting. 

Akihiko and Shinji had done everything together, had always had each other’s backs. And now in this, Akihiko was alone. He didn’t blame Shinji, but not knowing something so big about his friend made him feel off-balance. Especially now, when it meant that he was the only one left out- Shinji and Mitsuru were part of this world Akihiko hadn’t known existed. 

He can’t be left behind. 

Akihiko squeezes the grip of the evoker, hand tight and jaw set. He points it testingly for a moment, looking along the barrel as though he might fire it at the wall. But that’s not where it’s meant to go, and he knows it. His hands carefully do not shake as he draws it back, pointing it to the center of his head. Breathing slowly, fighting his faster heartbeat, Akihiko thinks about his final breath, and pulls the trigger. 

He’s not braced for the recoil, and his head snaps back, a sound like shattering glass filling his ears as a blue light bursts across vision, leaving him blinking away spots. Head heavy but light at the same time, he struggles to fight down the strange sense of lethargy and chill.

_So this is where Castor was brought, all those years ago._

Akihiko goes still at the thrumming voice, unsettled by the way he feels it more than he hears it. It resonates inside him, rippling through his core in a way that would almost be invasive, if it didn’t inspire such calm. 

_And what a match he has found. Look at you, my other self. I am thou, thou art I. The completion of your pair, Polydeuces._

“Poly-polydeuces?” His voice cracks, and he flushes, the faint amusement he feels from the entity only worsening his blush.

_Brother of Castor, son of Zeus, one half of the Dioscuri._

Akihiko’s head spins, but he nods. 

“The Gemini twins.”

“Incredible.” 

He startles, whipping around to face the door. Kirijo stands in the doorway, his single eye on the persona. The man’s imposing aura is not negated even by the presence of a persona, still commanding the room as he steps inside. After a moment he looks down, and Akihiko instinctively straightens his back, stiffening his shoulders. His gaze is inscrutable, the same calculating look in his eyes that had been reflected in his daughter’s, and Akihiko tilts his chin up, determined to measure up this time. 

He must be projecting something properly, because Kirijo smiles, and turns back to look up at Polydeuces, who floats unbothered by the inspection. 

“You’re very good friends with Aragaki-kun, aren’t you?”

Akihiko tries to find the double meaning, but whatever the man is implying goes over his head.

“Yes sir, we are.” He answers cautiously. To his surprise, it seems to be the right one; Kirijo softens, even cracking a brief, soft smile.

“Make sure you look out for him out there.”

All he can do is nod.

“I will, sir.”

Movement at the corner of his eye catches his attention, and he sees both Mitsuru and Shinji peeking in the doorway. As subtly as he can, quietly grateful that he’s on Kirijo’s left side, he gives a tiny wave. Mitsuru nods, a note of approval on her her face. Shinji… Shinji looks worried at first, but when he sees Akihiko wave, his face goes neutral. 

He doesn’t know why, but when Akihiko sees Shinji’s concern, it only hardens his resolve. He will get better, both with his persona and with his fighting.

Then, Shinji won’t have to worry at all. 

His bond with Polydeuces glows softly, and Akihiko is certain that he will finally be strong enough to keep the ones he cares about safe.

**Author's Note:**

> I thought it was really interesting that Akihiko awoke to his persona much later than the other two of the senpai squad, and that made it even more interesting that his persona would match Shinji's, so this was a fun bit of exploration into how that might have happened. I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
